The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for analyzing and inspecting color films.
Video type color film analyzers are well known in the art. One example disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-141,530 uses a color TV camera to provide color image data corresponding to picture frames of a number of rolls of color film which have been spliced together. The color image data of the respective picture frames are stored in a memory, and after being read out the data is gradation transformed based on its large area transmittance density (LATD), and transformed from negative form to positive form. The transformed data is then sent to one of a plurality of CRT displays, arranged in a line, to display a simulated color image thereon. A color film analyzer of this type can display a plurality of simulated color images on the line of CRT displays. The center CRT display displays a color image which is to be inspected and/or corrected. The remaining CRT displays on one side of the center CRT display, show color images which have been previously inspected, and corrected are if needed. On the opposite side of the center CRT display, color images which are yet to be inspected are displayed. Therefore, the simulated color image on the center, CRT display can be estimated by comparing with its adjacent corrected and uncorrected color images.
In another color film analyzer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,084, the simulated color images and the color images which are yet to be simulated are displayed in a matrix pattern. If any of the displayed color images has undesirable color and/or density as a printed image, it is specified via a light pen, or the like, to correct the exposure. Image data of the specified image is gradation transformed according to the corrected exposure so that color and/or density of the color image is correctly changed.
The image data of picture frames to be displayed are written in and read out from an image memory as is disclosed in, for example, European Unexamined Publication No. 108,158 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,150.
Such video-type color film analyzers have various drawbacks. Because a roll of color film often includes frames bearing unintended principal subject images, blurred images or the like, these frames usually need not be printed. It is difficult to specify an image or images which should not be printed based upon visual inspection using these color film analyzers. It is therefore often necessary to repeatedly specify picture frames which need not be printed.
It is also difficult to determine whether each simulated image has proper color balance and/or density.
In the above examples, a plurality of simulated images or images which are yet to be simulated are displayed on a single display device such as a CRT, and as a result each image is too small and unsuitable for visual inspection.
A cursor, usually used in the computer art, is a gray or white square image. If such a cursor is used for specifying an image or the principal part thereof which has colors that are identical or similar to the color of the cursor, it will be hard to distinguish the cursor from the specified image.
A different problem of the conventional video-type color film analyzers is how to specify the number of prints for each picture frame to be printed. Since the specified number of prints cannot be displayed on any part of the analyzer, it is impossible to confirm the specified number of prints at any desired time. Furthermore, if all of the picture frames to be printed require the same number of prints, the same number must be specified for each picture frame. This is quite troublesome inspection work.